He suffered serious head injuries after slamming into a church tower and was instantly knocked out in front of horrified spectators

A fireman's fancy dress holiday stunt went tragically wrong when a cable snapped and sent him crashing into a church bell tower.

Father of two Salvatore Alfano, 45, suffered serious head injuries after slamming into the brickwork and was instantly knocked out in front of horrified spectators including dozens of children who had gathered to watch the event.

Alfano had been dressed as the 'Befana', an old woman who is part of the traditional end of Christmas festivities and had offered to take part in the stunt which involved him hurtling down a zip wire suspended between the bell tower and a nearby building.

But the cheery mood turned to tragedy after the cable snapped briefly suspending him high above the square in Caserta near Naples before he swung into the bell tower of the town's 100 year old St Michael the Archangel Cathedral.

Footage taken at the scene and posted on the website of the local newspaper showed Alfano's motionless body suspended and swinging from side to side, 20ft from the ground, as shocked onlookers screamed in horror before he was lowered down and given first aid.

Paramedics were quickly on the scene and he was rushed to the nearby Sant Anna hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for a serious head injury and today/yesterday doctors said he was in a "serious condition" and they could not rule out further surgery.

Following the incident the rest of the event was cancelled with officials expressing their solidarity towards Alfano and his family.

Local mayor Pio del Gaudio said: "It was terrible - one minute he was throwing sweets to the children in the crowd, the next the cable snapped and he crashed into the church tower at high speed.

"People were screaming and he was hanging there completely still, at first I thought he had been killed but the paramedics did a fantastic job and he was taken straight to hospital where he had an operation.

!Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and colleagues. It was not a particularly dangerous event and it has been taking place in the town for years but obviously after what happened everything was cancelled.

"The whole thing only lasted a few seconds. The cause of what happened will be investigated but an initial examination of the scene looks like it was due to the brickwork giving way and unable to hold the mechanism down securely."

Police spokesman Alberto Negro said: "We have examined the scene and will carry out a thorough investigation to establish the cause oft he incident. We are also asking for people who filmed what happened to let us have their footage."

Traditionally in Italy the Befana is an old woman who hands out sweets to good children on Epiphany Eve in a similar way to Father Christmas and it is the last festival of Christmas taking place just ahead of Twelfth Night - the day when the Three Kings are said to have visited Christ in Bethlehem.